Palmerton Finally Gets Date For Superfund Study: 1991

September 13, 1990|by KATHARINE McKEE, The Morning Call

Palmerton residents may soon be able to breathe a sigh of relief, or at least know why they can't.

The Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry is planning to come to Palmerton to do a full-fledged health study next summer, something area residents have been waiting for since Palmerton was designated a Superfund hazardous waste site in 1982.

Gale Savage, medical officer for the health investigation branch of the agency, said she is designing the study now and has scheduled a public meeting in Palmerton Sept. 21 to hear residents' health concerns.

"We want to hear what the residents would like us to look into. That will help us shape the study," Savage said.

The study will be funded by the federal Superfund program, and conducted by the agency and the state Health Department.

"Because the study is just in the planning stage now, I can't say exactly what we'll be doing, but we will be in the field, canvassing the area, surveying and testing residents," Savage said.

Palmerton was placed on the Superfund National Priorities list because of ground and surface water contamination caused by 70 years of zinc smelting in the area.

As a result of the zinc operations, 33 million tons of zinc residue has accumulated in and along the banks of Aquashicola Creek, contaminating both ground and surface water. The air pollution from the smelter has contributed to soil contamination with high concentrations of zinc and cadmium in local soil and vegetation.

In 1986, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry evaluated the health threat posed by the defoliated portions of Blue Mountain. In a 1987 memorandum, the agency found that there is a potential risk in human exposure through direct contact with soil or consumption of fish from area streams. Next summer's study will be the agency's first all-inclusive study of the health effects in the area.